1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a heat-dissipating device, more particularly to a heat-dissipating device including a plating metal layer formed on a graphite laminate. This invention also relates to the use of the heat-dissipating device including one or more plating metal layers to dissipate heat in an electronic device.
2. Description of the related art
A heat-dissipating device made from metal having a high conductivity, such as copper or aluminum, is usually used for dissipating heat generated in electronic components into ambient air. When the operating speed of the electronic components is faster, a rate of heat generation is increased. Therefore, a large heat-dissipating area of the heat-dissipating device is required so as to quickly dissipate heat. However, such requirement increases a weight of the heat-dissipating device.
Compared to copper or aluminum, graphite has advantages such as low heat resistance, light weight, and high conductive coefficient. However, since graphite has insufficient mechanical strength due to its flexibility and is frangible, graphite is likely to be damaged and to be deformed due to impact or stress during use. In addition, since graphite cannot bond directly to metal or alloy by welding, graphite itself is not used as the heat-dissipating device.
An existing method of making a heat-dissipating device is generally carried out by adhering a metal layer to graphite for improving rigidity and strength thereof. Subsequently, electronic components are connected to the graphite by adhering to the metal layer. However, the metal layer is likely to separate from the graphite, and heat conduction can be discontinuous due to the adhesive between the metal layer and the graphite, which reduces heat conduction efficiency.